Starcraft: The RPG
by aLazycloud
Summary: Join Karl as he traverses the game that is the Korprulu Sector in hopes of surviving the horrors and wonders of the war that expands across the stars. GamerOC!
1. Chapter 1

posted: 6/9/2017

A/N: I own nothing and this is all for shits and giggles. Please rate and review.

Shout out to Percy Jackson and The Game by I'mjusttryingtofindmyway for heavily inspiring me to do my own.

* * *

"Alex, there is no way a fleet of Carriers would beat a swarm of Leviathans!" Karl argued.

"Yes they would, a bunch of interceptors vs the tentacle thingies would totally wreck the leviathans."

"No, you're forgetting the fact hat leviathans CARRY swarms in side them, so that means mutalisks, corruptors, and in case you forgotten, scourge as well. Which are all perfect for countering skytoss." He shot back.

"Yeah well then I'll add in a mothership and phoenixes." He shot back.

"Dude that still wouldn't work, you'd need to add the Spear of Adun and the Golden armada to even stand a chance against a full swarm of leviathans."

"Whatever lets agree to disagree." Alex quickly said with a toothy grin.

Letting out a breath, Karl shook his head. The two of them were hanging out in the library talking about their favorite game while working on their their research paper. For years the two of them had obsessed over their favorite game, with the one difference being that for Karl, StarCraft had been the first computer game he'd ever played. Something like that always held a special place in your heart.

Growing up the two of them spent hours learning build orders, learning hotkeys, and watching professional matches. Weeks of cramped fingers, timing attacks, and macro builds got him into high leveled matches but in the end they couldn't go pro. Alex had given up but loved the romance of space operas, so he pursued a degree in astrophysics. Karl on the other hand did not give up his dream but he too decided to pursue another path. The story that spanned the stars made him fall in love with the story, granted not everyone agreed with it. So he started his studies in engineering.

"Hey man I gotta go home, just email me the notes for later okay?" Karl said as he packed up his stuff.

"Sure, match tonight?"

"Yeah I think I can make it to grandmaster league tonight." He squealed like a little girl.

Laughing at his friend Alex simply waved goodbye.

At home he immediately dropped his bag and prepared immediately to get onto his computer. Waiting for it to boot up he grabbed an energy drink from the mini fridge in his apartment and began his pregame ritual. Stretching his legs so his butt wouldn't be numb, flexing his wrists for maximum range of motion, and cracking his back in preparation for the game chair. Ready for his game time, normally he put his soda in a safe spot so not to damage his computer in case of spill, but he received a text on his phone and accidentally spilled it onto his computer. Freaking out, he touched his computer and then everything went dark.

Karl thought for a moment that he'd gone blind, until he saw a transparent blue screen appear in his vision. Reading it however turn his fears of blindness into fears of insanity as he read.

 **Welcome to the Multi-gamerverse. You are now in the Starcraft Universe**

 **You are now one of the many gamers who populate the Multi-gamerverse.**

"What in the blue hell?", he thought to himself.

 **Please pick your Base Class:**

 **GHOST** : Born with incredible psionic potential, these individuals are recruited, quarantined, and put into training by the government from childhood. Ghosts learn to channel their psionic energies to augment their natural physical strength and endurance. They are rightly feared for their preternatural sniping ability with the C-10 Canister Rifle and their advanced stealth maneuvering. Ghosts can be equipped with psionically powered Personal Cloaking devices that allow them to become virtually undetectable by enemies without specialized sensory equipment.

UNLOCKS: Stealth, Psionic Mastery, Marksmanship, Snipe, Trained Shooter

STATS: +5 INT, +3 DEX, +2 CON to Starting stats. +2 INT, +1 DEX every other level

 **MARINE** : Marines are the first line of defense for Terran planets in the Koprulu sector. Under the old Confederacy, the majority of Marines were criminals or rebels who had undergone mandatory neural resocialization to ensure their absolute loyalty. This practice has been reportedly scaled back, but it remains common due to insufficient volunteers to serve in the military. The heavy armor worn by Marines is effective against small-arms fire and provides them with full life support and NBC (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical) shielding for operation in deep space and other hostile environments. Marines are armed with C-14 Impaler Gauss Rifles that fire 8mm metal spikes at hypersonic speeds.

UNLOCKS: Stim, Weapon System, Hardskin Suit Proficiency,

STATS: +5 DEX, +3 STR, +2 CON, to Starting stats. +2 DEX, +1 STR, every other level

 **MARAUDER** : Primarily a support unit, the remodeled heavyweight Firebat suit packs Quad K12 Punisher grenade launchers that devastate enemy structures and vehicles from a distance. As the Dominion military began to reevaluate its systems, it determined that it was still geared to fight Terran-vs.-Terran battles that were imagined pre-Zerg. There needed to be an increase in armor-shattering combat units with weapons capable of piercing through hardened Zerg carapaces. The Marauder was the answer. These virtual walking tanks have given the Dominion infantry the hard-hitting, easy-to-produce support that had been missing on the front lines.

UNLOCKS: Stim, Weapon System, Concussive Blast, Hardskin Suit Proficiency

STATS: +5 STR, +3 CON, +1 DEX to Starting stats. +2 STR, +1 CON every other level.

 **[Next Page]**

'What in the flying fuck is going on?' was the first thought to cross his mind.

"Ah you must be the chosen." A voice came from beyond the darkness that enveloped him.

"What the hell?" he yelped at the surprise voice.

"Ah apologies, I mean you no harm." the voice came from beyond the void. slowly in front of him, a familiar form materialized.

"Ah no problem, just you sound so familiar.", Karl pondered.

"I am Tassadar. Once a proud Executor of the Templar."

If Karl could feel his jaw, it would be hanging open right now. Tassadar, one of the signature characters in the entirety of the starcraft story, was talking to him now. However being how he knew the end of the story he was curious why the great Executor was here talking to him.

"I am here, in the beyond to guide you as I have been commanded by the Elder Ones."

"Elder Ones?" Karl asked since there was no mention of any elder ones in any shape or form in the games.

"It is not yet time for you to know. However you must pick your path before you are to learn more. Be wise and you will be successful in your future endeavors." The Protoss advised.

Not really seeing a choice in the matter Karl considered what was in front of him, he decided to scroll through the pages but his options weren't that great since he didn't know how to pilot wraiths, battlecruisers, and dropships, nor was he able to drive vultures, siege tanks, and hellions. Wanting to at least be familiar with what he was doing he narrowed it down to infantry.

Ghost or Marine.

As much as he would want to trek around in a kick-ass hard skin exoskeleton suit, the idea of bending the world around you with mind powers certainly took the cake.

You have selected Ghost. Please select your TALENTS.

PERK POINT AVAILABLE. SELECT TWO TALENTS.

 **NATURALLY** **SKILLED** : You gain one additional skill point every other level.

 **LUCKY** **BASTARD** : You get lucky for the randomist reasons. What some call amazing skill, you know it was just luck.

 **FRIENDLY** : Make friends and allies much easier, or harder. It depends who you're talking to.

 **WELL ENDOWED** : Bonus to persuasion after sex

 **[NEXT PAGE]**

Looking over the list Karl whistled, or at least he thought he did. The stats and skills by themselves made him giddy as if a dream come true. Looking at the perks though, they in honest opinions were a little lack luster.

Looking over the list Karl whistled, or at least he thought he did. Looking at the perks, they in honest opinions were a little lack luster. 'Well can't do anything about it.' He told himself. Reading through he picked the Lucky bastard, due to the fact he knew luck sometimes made a difference, and the friendly perk.

"Well done Chosen One. With that you have created your trial avatar, be cautious as not everything is as it seems."

"What do you mean?"

"I cannot say, it is not my place. However I suggest you take this as serious as you can, your returning to your world depends on it." The voice of Tassadar warned.

"Now it is time for your trial. I wish you luck."

"What Tri-?

 **[Starcraft Trial Beginning in 5..]**

"Oh that trial…"

 **[4…]**

"Good luck young one and be brave for your life depends on it. And if you see James tell him I say hello."

 **[2…]**

"Wait what do…"

 **[1… Trial Commencing. The Fall of Tarsonis.]**

"Fuck me..."

* * *

 **[Welcome to the Trial: Fall of Tarsonis.**

 **The Psi-Emitters have been activated and the Zerg are on their way.]**

 **Select a starting Faction:**

 **Sons Of Korhal: Begin as a member of the Sons of Korhal.**

 **+100 w. Sons of Korhal**

 **-100 w. The Confederacy**

 **+40 w. Raynor's Raiders.**

 **The Confederacy: Begin as a member of the Confederacy**

 **+100 w. The Confederacy**

 **-100 w. Sons of Korhal**

 **-100 w. Raynor's Raiders.**

 **Raynor's Raiders: Begin as a member of the Sons of Korhal.**

 **+100 w. Raynor's Raiders**

 **-100 w. The Confederacy**

 **+30 w. Sons of Korhal**

Having a faint idea of what each faction did during the battle, he figured with his knowledge he could do the most good here."Join Sons of Korhal."

 **[You are now a temporary member of the Sons of Korhal. Preparing Trial]**

As the words on the blue screen faded away, the area around him faded away and he found himself in a bunker. Observing his surroundings he noticed that he was the only ghost among the squad of twelve marines he was with. The red color of the marines made it clear he was with the Sons of Korhal. Focusing on one marine he was surprised when the light blue window showed up.

 **[Andrew Taft : Level 4 : Marine : 250HP 20SP]**

 **[Congratulations you have obtained the Observe skill.]**

 **[Observe 1/100: A skill to find the target's information. Observe is improved through continuous use]**

'Nice, this will come in handy. Lets see what else there is.' He thought as he focused on the other marines. All of their information was relatively similar while looking at himself he noticed that the window for his own screen had told him to say [Status] to see more in depth knowledge on himself. A white window appeared and it read;

 **-KARL PORTER**

 **Titles: None**

 **Lvl: 1 (0/100)**

 **HP: 120/100**

 **Psy: 90/90**

 **Race Terran Class: Ghost**

 **STR : 4 CON:6**

 **CHA : 4 DEX: 7**

 **WIS : 4 INT : 9**

 **Unallocated Stat Points: 0**

 **Money: 0 Credits**

 **Skills:**

 **Stealth: You are skilled at avoiding detection, allowing you to slip past enemies to strike from an unseen position. This skill covers hiding and moving silently. Basic (35/100) (Passive)**

 **Psionic Mastery: You are gifted with psionic powers, through training, discipline and hard work you bend the physical world to your will. This skill covers your Psionic ability and your ease of using it. Allows you to manipulate Psionic Energy. Basic (25/100)**

 **Sub-Skills (Cannot be greater than main skill.)**

 **Telekinesis (10/100) Telepathy (10/100)**

 **Marksmanship: Your aim is true. Through hours of training you have become proficient with your weapon, granting you greater accuracy and better groupings with your weapon. This skill covers your accuracy and range with weapons. Basic (25/100) (Passive)**

 **Trained Shooter: You can hit a target with any weapon, with any hand, on any day. This skills allows you to use both hands to shoot any weapon you can carry. (Passive)**

 **Snipe: One shot, one kill. With certain weapons you have the ability to do increased damage to an unaware target. This skill allows you to do increased damage so long as the unit doesn't know where you are. Basic (20/50)**

 **A Gamer's Body: Grants the user a body that allows the user to live the in the world like a game.(Passive)**

 **A Gamer's Mind: Allows user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind, immune to psychological status and effects. (Passive)**

 **PERKS**

 **LUCKY BASTARD: You get lucky for the most random reasons. What some call amazing skill, you know it was just luck.**

 **FRIENDLY: Make friends and allies much easier, or harder. It depends who you're talking to.**

 **Looking over the list Karl hummed, or at least he thought he did. The stats and skills by themselves made him giddy as if a dream come true. Looking at the perks though, they in honest opinions were a little lack luster.**

 **Seeing his stats made him giddy as he was now a badass… at least he felt like a badass. The two that stood out the most though were the Gamer's Mind and Gamer's Body. It was allowing him to stay calm and collected and granted him strength beyond any normal human. Then seeing how his body was he thought the next logical step was to check his equipment. Next a blue screen appeared and showed him his equipment;**

 **[C-10 Mk. VI Canister Rifle]**

 **The C-10 is a Canister Rifle issued to Ghosts, is standard issue for Ghosts.**

 **Damage 30xDEX**

 **Ammo 50(R)/10(M)**

 **[Combat Knife]**

 **A combat knife issues to all Military Fighters.**

 **5xSTR**

 **[Hostile Enviromental Suit/SkinSuit]**

 **Standard issue Terran Ghost armor.**

 **Armor: 8xCON**

 **Features:**

 **Environmental Control: keeps the body at optimum temperature.**

 **Cloaking: Allows Cloaking, duration dependent of stored energy.**

 **Sensory Systems: Provides enhanced vision, HUD system, Map System, Communication System and Automated targeting system.**

'So standard ghost equipment. If I remember correctly the Fall of Tarsonis was three parts. First being the defense platforms being taken over, then the descent into Tarsonnis, when the psi-emitter is placed, and then finally the Evacuation. Now I just have to figure out what part we're at.' He pieced together.

The doors of the bunker opened up showing the familiar face of one Sarah Kerrigan, "Attention boys. The Protoss have been destroyed. Now all we gotta do is wait for evacuation and then the first rounds on me."

A large round of cheers came through the comms. Among the commotion he used Observe on the super ghost before him.

[Sarah Kerrigan : Level ? : Elite Ghost]

 **[Through continued use, your Observe skill has increased by 1.]**

Smiling at the skill increase he decided to try again.

 **Sarah Kerrigan**

Titles: Sons of Korhal Elite Ghost

Lvl: ?

HP: ?

PSY: ?

Race: Terran Class: Ghost

STR : ? CON:?

CHA : ? DEX: ?

WIS : ? INT : ?

Karl however was not looking forward to what came next. He immediately pulled up the map system and found what he was looking for. Five Kilometers to the south was a deserted airbase that would probably have some sort of aircraft he could use to get out. Luckily the main base which would be attacked first was far up in the north, a short kilometer away. Things were not going to end well for them but Karl didn't have time to think about them.

The story went, after the arrival of the zerg and the protoss, Arcturus Mengsk had ordered Sarah Kerrigan to defend the Zerg in order for the swarm to have a foothold. She was to stop the protoss from destroying the swarm, then await for extraction.

It would never come for her, Mengsk had ordered the fleet to leave Tarsonis to be devoured by the Zerg. Once James Raynor had found out though he cut ties with the Sons of Korhal and went back to try and save her. Stealing a couple drop ships, he led his men back to the surface of Tarsonis in hopes that he could make it in time.

Right now though every marine was happy at the thought of getting a drink after it was all over. Karl on the other hand was checking his weapons and ammo. Some of the other marines looked to him for weirdly for some reason.

"Can you hear me Karl?" the familiar voice came through his mind.

"I hear you ma'am." He responded even though he didn't really know how he was doing it.

"Thats good, relax we're going to be home soon." She said.

"Doesn't hurt to be prepared. Its the zerg we're dealing with." he said.

"Don't worry Mengsk will come and get us soon. If it makes you feel any better grab some extra ammo." She laughed.

 **[New Quest Available!]**

Resuply!

Get ammo and gear for when Mengsk doesn't retrieve you.

Reward: 10xp, ?

Failure: Unprepared for zerg wave.

Accept? Yes / No

Karl immediately accepted the quest and headed over to the supply crate on the other end of the room to see if there was anything of use. He remembered that they were going to be in New Gettysburg so that there would definitely be some military ordinance. Looking through he grabbed all the C-10 rifle and found himself an interesting set of grenades and a small data pad.

[Type C Grenade] x 5

Explosive Grenades 3 second Prime

125 damage.

"Alright, just remember to thank me when I save your ass." Karl warned her.

"Fine Karl, I'll restock too." She chuckled as she started walking over when all of a sudden a communications broadcast went out through to everyone.

"Warning. Zerg attack in progress. Recommend retreat. Primary command center destruction imminent. Code RED now in effect. ETA 2 minutes." The robotic sound of an adjutant came through.

With that the hardened marines immediately began scrambling for ammo.

The Elite Ghost swore as she sprang into action and headed out the door.

"Wait!" he told her but she ignored him and went outside.

 **[Quest complete: Prepared for Zerg attack.]**

Rewards: 10 XP. Transport Vehicle location.

The quest notification went off as he followed he out with the other marines spilling out of the bunker. From a distance they could see the flames and artillery fire of the base being swarmed by the Zerg.

"Damn man wheres that evac?" one of the marines asked.

"I don't know." Sarah said as she went on her comms and called in.

Not wanting to wait around, Karl started heading for the other direction.

"Hey where you going?!" one of the other marines asked him.

Looking back he to told them, "Theres a air base, five clicks south of here. Should be some way for us to get off this rock."

"What? We should wait for evac!" another marine said.

"Yeah." The other marines joined in.

"There will be no evac. The almighty Mengsk has left us here to die." He shot back.

With that one of the marines pointed his gun at him.

"No! He would not leave us down here! We've been to-"

"He has, but if you done believe me lets ask Kerrigan." He said back. Together every marine looked to her only to find her face scrunched up.

"Wheres that evac ma'am?" the marine asked.

With a deep breath, "It ain't coming, I can't get anyone on the comm. Not even Jimmy."

Looking around the group many fell silent.

"Alright then lets get moving." Karl interrupted before they could become too hopeless.

 **[New Quest available]**

 **Escape Tarsonis!**

 **Mengsk has left you all to die, reach the Air Base with everyone and try to survive**

 **Rewards: 8000exp, 30,000 Credits. Faction Token.**

 **Bonus rewards: for every surviving marine +1000 exp, 2000 credits.**

 **If Kerrigan reaches base: +5,000 exp, 50,000 Credits**

 **Failure: End of Trial**

 **Quest cannot be Denied.**

"Yeah, I don't plan on dying on this piece of shit." Sarah said and like that all the marines were with her once again.

"Lead the way Karl, I'll bring up the rear."

"Yes Ma'am"

Together the group sprang into action as he led them through the ruined city and towards the south. The once bustling city of millions was now shells of its former glory. Running through the streets of the growing zerg infested area, only for them to see many of the dead. For a while things seemed to be going as good as could be, that is until from out of no where spines started flying at them from their right flank and screeches of zerglings coming at them. Somehow his body seemed to know what he wanted to do and he immediately engaged his cloak and took off to find whatever was shooting at them.

The marines however were not so lucky as they immediately took cover in a nearby collapsed building cursing their luck and opening fire on the in coming zeros. Kerrigan on the other hand had decided to switch up her tactics and stayed behind.

"Get around, they came from the right side. Take out as many hydralisks as you can." The Ghost ordered.

"On it." He replied, while running through the ruins of the street they were on. Finding an intact three story building was impossible but he managed to find the corner of an only partially destroyed one. Reaching the top was an ease somehow with his gifted body and using it was amazing as well. Using his suits equipment, he immediately found his targets. The Zerg that was attacking was closing in, with the only blessing being that it seemed to be a small group.

"Kerrigan, this is Karl. I see a group of forty zerglings and no more than a dozen hydralisks. Relaying positions, beginning attack." He said as he held up the familiar rifle.

"Acknowledged, good hunting."

The zerglings were swarming in from behind the hydralisks, a common tactic in order to bog down marines from combatting the longer ranged hydralisks. Preparing to engadge his targets, he switched his rifle into a three round burst mode. Even though he'd never held a gun in his life, his body and supposed training took over for him.

'Breathe… in….out…fire." He thought to himself as he took his first shot.

Thwick…thick…thick… was the sound as the suppressed 25mm antipersonnel rounds hit his first hydralisk. As the rounds killed the first hydralisk with the bonus from the Stealth and Snipe skills he dealt enough damage to kill it on his first try.

You deal ((30x7) x3 ) = 630 (x 2) (Stealth bonus) = 1260 x 3 (snipe bonus) = 3780 Damage

Hydralisk killed.

You earn 30 experience & 75 Credits.

Smiling at his earnings he went back to sniping the enemy hydralisks. The marines made a wall and prepared for them to come into range. The swarm of zerg continued on their path though, not a single one caring that he'd just killed a hydralisk. Moving on he continued to shoot and one by one the hydralisks fell thanks to his benefits with the sneak and snipe skill. In just a few minutes, he had been able to acquire his targets, kill them and then move on until they were all eliminated. However in the same amount of time the marines and Kerrigan had managed to wipe out all the zerglings.

"Regroup at this location Karl." She relayed to him. The location was an intercept course with them towards the Air Base.

"Copy that. Will meet you there, cloaked so watch your fire." He told them.

They acknowledged him and broke contact. Slowly the adrenaline wore off and the gravity of his situation sunk in. He'd just killed some hydralisks… living, spine shooting, death dealing hydralisk. Instead of freaking out though he somehow managed to clear his mind and not overreact.

'Gamer's mind must be working over time.' He figured.

As he ran, he figured he'd check his status to see if he made any improvements.

 **-KARL PORTER-**

Titles: None

Lvl: 3 (80/441)

HP: 120/120

Psy: 110/110

 **Race: Terran / Class: Ghost**

STR : 4 CON:6

CHA : 4 DEX: 8

WIS : 4 INT : 11

Unallocated Stat Points: 4

Money: 975 Credits

Seeing his stat points he quickly brought his lowest three up to 5 and them another to DEX bringing him to 9.

'Going to have to spend some more time thinking about these stats later.' he thought as he ran off to find his squad.

* * *

A.N: Class descriptions are taken from the Blizard site.

How exp works in this, starting at lvl 1 is 100 xp to get to level 2

from there you multiply by 2.1 and that is the next exp target. some of you may go like well dude that way too freaking easy. thats the purpose since i want the mc to get past the early section quickly but by the time he's level 15 he will need 1543861 exp. not going to be nearly as easy.

Next every level gives him 2 stat points to distribute. leveling up will not be his main focus i promise you that. however there will be ways to massive level ups in the future.

If requested i will post my mechanics on a separate chapter.

Hope you enjoyed and tell me your comments and suggestions

Releases will most likely be when ever i feel like it but should be like once a month.


	2. Chapter 2

Running through the wrecked city that was New Gettysburg, Karl moved with a sense of urgency in order to meet up with his squad. All around him he witnessed the devastated city in all its broken glory from the invasion of the rebellion.

'Sarah, coming up to you from the west side, watch your fire.' He sent to her via telepathy.

'Confirmed.'

Running through, he slowly caught sight of the mass of marines running in tandem. Whistling, he was able to get them to slow down.

"Karl! How long until we reach the airbase?" one of the marines asked.

"We're 4km away or eighteen minutes out, that is to say so long as we don't run into any more zerg on the way there."

"Damn, the Zerg will definitely be on our ass. Going to have to search for transport too." Another marine cursed.

"Shut up and keep moving you bunch of wusses." Kerrigan snapped over the comm.

A round of 'yes, ma'am' went around as the soldiers trekked on. Moving on, through the wreckage they were approaching what would be the remnants of of the recently destroyed Protoss base. Not more than an hour ago was there heavy fighting here, heavy artillery and scores of marines attacked wave after wave to repel the Protoss.

"Beware of stragglers, Protoss Zealots are quick, agile, and deadly." Kerrigan warned.

"Understood, do psionic attacks work?"

"No their shields negate it partially, not counting on their natural psionic resilience."

"Figures." He sighed.

Things were going well as they were able to make it almost halfway through the destroyed base when all of a sudden, the cries of a marine were heard. Snapping their heads back, the unnatural sight of a marine in full armor being lifted by two bright blue psionic blades protruding through his chest.

"NO! Carmine!" the marine behind him screamed as he lifted his gauss rifle.

§Terran… you will pay for your actions! My life for Aiur!§, the zealot roared as it pulled its psi blades out.

In a primal roar, the marines immediately started laying down heavy fire. The bright blue plasma shields immediately flared as it deflected the gauss spikes. Not caring about the gunfire, the zealot just charged right in and plunged one of its psi blades into another marines visor, effectively killing the marine. Karl having brought up his C-10, put a three round burst at the Protoss warrior, the first two rounds broke the shield, while the third one hit the warrior in the neck.

[Zealot defeated, 100 Exp Gained, 250 Credits received.]

The proud warrior on the verge of death slowly vanished in a wisp of blue light, leaving nothing behind. The slain marines were given a brief moment of silence before the others scavenged the dead marines ammo. Karl could see the smoldering damage that the psi blades caused from the fallen marines visor.

"Where the hell did that Protoss go?" one of the marines asked.

"No idea. Not many know that much about them." Another marine commented.

"Come on we ain't got time to be wastin', lets hurry and get to the airbase so we can get off this damn rock!"

"Shut up! We're coming Earl." The marine responded as the group steadily began running again, now wary of other possible survivors. The remnants of the protoss base was filled with destroyed Protoss armament and collapsed infrastructure. Karl in the meanwhile began to take serious account of his surroundings.

However after five minutes of nonstop running they were finally in view of the airbase. Problem was that it was now being that it looked to be completely hunkered down by surviving Confederate forces. Fortunately, there were no Siege Tanks to drop heavy ordinance on them. Unfortunately for them, the confederates had caught already caught sight of the band of rebels and immediately started firing.

"Hit the dirt!" someone yelled as everyone went down.

"Adjudant! Status of Confederate forces!" Kerrigan shouted.

{Unknown. No Orbital forces in orbit. Command center destroyed. No satellite data available.}

Cursing and the unknown enemy she activated her cloak and disappeared.

"Damnit Kerrigan tell us when you ghost out on us!" a marine complained.

"I'm going to try and find my way into the air base. The zerg have already swept through what was left of our base and the last thing we really need is to waste time." She scolded them through the comms.

"R-r-right ma'am."

Karl however started plotting, lifting up his rifle, started naming targets for the other ghost to hunt.

* * *

Inside the airbase the last Confederate forces on the planet were huddled up preparing to evacuate. The last of the chain of command had disrupted from the mass of zerg landing. Luckily for the men they had a competent commanding officer, who to their surprise and relief, ordered them to take the air field and prepare to escape the hopeless world. It was saddening to see that billions were going to die from the arrival of the zerg, but they had their own priorities.

Not two minutes ago the proximity sensors had gone off from the northern perimeter. Low and behold it was a small group, barely a squad of the Sons of Korhal who were at their perimeter. The group of sixty marines that were trying to escape New Gettysburg were very much angry. It was those sons of bitches who ruined the lives of billions on their home planet. The air base, being a military installation had several bunkers built in. Installations that the marines took advantage of, three bunkers full and a full firing line of marines dub in the trenches.

The rebels were still out of range but they all knew they were there. The rebels were out numbered and hadn't retreated but weren't attacking either.

"Unit Four prepare to charge. Confirm orders, over." the commander said through their comms.

"This is Unit 4 ord-"

The unit commander of the twenty there marines suddenly went quiet as the marines turned around to find the visor of the exosuit with a massive hole in the head. Their training kicked in as they hit the dirt and kept an eye out for snipers. Before they could properly mount a counter attack, another marine fell dead to the sniper.

"Unit Four! Respond!"

"This is Unit Theta-4. We've got a sniper picking us off one by one! Oh god! Units Echo, Gecko, and Joker are d-"

"Theta-4 respond! Theta-4! Unit Two and Unit Three move to unit four and reinforce!"

"This is Unit Two. Confirmed"

"This is Unit T—"

"Unit Two? Respond… res—"

"Command? What is doing on? Command? Command?"

* * *

Karl couldn't help but watch in awe as in twenty three minutes, Kerrigan had found, identified, and eliminated seventeen members of the Confederate chain of command. While the team of marines weren't able to really able to maneuver through the bunkers, for fear of being filled by gauss spikes. While Kerrigan was wrecking havoc among the Confederate lines, Karl had engaged the cloak and make his way to the bunkers. Grabbing three grenades he primed them, waited three of the five second prime before chucking them in one of the bunkers.

[You have killed a Confederate Marine. 35 Exp Gained. 500 Credits gained]

[You have killed a Confederate Marine. 35 Exp Gained. 500 Credits gained]

[You have killed a Confederate Marine. 35 Exp Gained. 500 Credits gained]

[You have killed a Confederate Marine. 35 Exp Gained. 500 Credits gained]

[You have killed a Confederate Marine. 35 Exp Gained. 500 Credits gained]

[You have killed a Confederate Marine. 35 Exp Gained. 500 Credits gained]

The string of notifications told him that his idea worked. Running towards the second bunker with his cloak still engaged, tossed it into the last bunker. Tapping into his psionic abilities, tried to sense minds inside. He recognized the extra energy that he could manipulate so he sent it out in a pulse, which bounced back and showed him seven people inside.

[For expanding your psionic abilities, you have gained Psionic Detection]

The grenade didn't kill anyone but he was sure some of them were a little disoriented. Peaking in he saw a few marines laid out while another had its weapon out ready to defend his fellow marines. Deciding to save his last grenade, he quickly shot the marine guarding the others with a three round burst. Without a chance to fire back the marine, who was still in shock from a grenade appearing in the bunker, quickly slumped down.

The other marines scrambled but with damaged exosuits they were slow, leading to him being able to eliminate them with ease leading up to another string of notifications.

"This is Kerrigan. Command post neutralized."

"Affirmative, this is Karl, I took out the two bunkers."

"Good work. Have the squad move up, I'll clean up. Start looking for a way off this rock." The woman ordered.

Running back to the marines who were still dug in, they quickly started moving after hearing the way was clear. Running past the bunkers revealed the airbase as it was, with several Starports and hangars on lockdown.

"Split up and search for any way off the planet!" he barked.

The remaining marines split into two groups and proceeded to the hangars. Karl meanwhile went to the starport in hopes of trying to garner any info on a way off the world. Sending out another pulse to get a feel for if or how many personnel were still inside. Not surprising the entire starwort had been abandoned the moment that the Zerg arrived on Tarsonis.

The Starport was divided into three parts, manufacturing, storage and command. Manufacturing dealt with the production and assembly of all space ships and their parts. Storage meant raw materials and produced parts stored for future production. Lastly was command where schematics, orders, and logistics were stored, that was where he was headed. Moving through the abandoned starport was easy, however the main trouble came from the Adjutant which was still linked to the Confederate Command system.

Inside the command part of the starport he tried gaining access but lacked the necessary technological skills to hack the AI and gain control. Instead of the he ripped out the memory unit of the adjutant. There was a possibility of it being useful later, after that he went to the storage area, New Gettysburg was a military city, so a starport here would have something valuable at least if at the very least a storage container of weapons or if they had time a storage container of raw materials.

Before he could reach the door, pure agony attacked his mind, a massive psionic signature had just arrived on Tarsonis, and it was coming for them. The Zerg were on their way and it will be soon. Deciding to skip the storage area he quickly made his way out.

"This is Kerrigan, we need to get the HELL out of here I've located a few Wraiths, and a shuttle but its busted. Any luck on your side?"

"This is Taft. We've located what seems to be a massive infantry transport shuttle in Hangar 2. Seems to be experimental that has a warp drive. Seems that they were fueling it up to take off."

"Good work Taft, everyone converge on ha-"

Her transmission was cut off as the sound of loud rumblings in the distance. Karl who was closest to the edge of the Airbase paled a little bit from what he saw.

"ZERG! We need to get the fuck out of here!" he roared as he ran towards Hangar 2.

In the distance, the Zerg Swarm had finally come together and were now making their way towards them. Thousands of Zerglings, hydralisks, and the massive Ultralisks filed the horizon, there was not a square inch of land anywhere. Even further in the distance night was falling, it wasn't a true sunset but really a swarm of Mutalisks, scourge and Brood lords that blocked out the sky.

This was the true might of the swarm… the unending swarm.

"Rodger that, looks like we have ninty seconds before they arrive."

"The ship is at seventy percent fuel, it should be able to get us to Tyrador IX. Beginning preflight warm up. I'm cleared for starship piloting so I'll get us ready." Taft sounded off.

"I'm on my way."

"Team 1 on the way to regroup."

"Get the ship ready, don't worry about food. Its only a seven hour jump to Tyrador." Kerrigan instructed.

"What about you?"

"I found something that will be of use, it won't take me long just get ready!"

Deciding not to bother her, he met up with squad one and together they quickly made their way off to the hangar.

"Taft, how long until we can get the hell out of here?"

"I don't know the ships experimental, seems like they did a few test flights but I can't be sure."

"Okay in that case block out all entrances but one and we'll hide in here. We form a defensive position and hole out for as long as you can."

The remaining marines besides Taft started barricading the doors with what ever they could. Spare parts around the hangar, maintenance equipment, and even tilted a wrecked engine at one of the doors. The four entrances were barricaded, although not perfectly, leaving only the biggest door as a option for the Zerg to funnel through. Kerrigan meanwhile still hadn't arrived, though the zerg were but moments away.

"Everyone get ready the Zerg are here!" another marine screamed.

The immediate reaction was everyone pointing their weapon at the ten foot wide archway. The moments became longer and longer as the rumblings and screeching coming from the zerg became louder and louder. The rumbling sounds became almost deafening, that was when they saw the zerglings arrive. Without a sound the marines started shooting. Zerglings that started running through the archway immediately were met with long bursts of gunfire.

The zerglings came by the dozen but with the narrow passage, not more than three could make it in at a single time. With the marines focusing fire on the front of the zerglings, slowly the bodies would begin piling up. As the zerg swarmed the airfield, more and more zerg began targeting the main hangar doors.

Karl brought up his riffle and fired his anti-personnel rounds at the waves of zerg that came through. Ignoring all the notifications, he just continued as he was doing until he'd emptied the first magazine. Luckily we had prepared plenty of ammo and so had the others.

[Zergling defeated, 10 Exp Gained, 25 Credits received.]

[Zergling defeated, 10 Exp Gained, 25 Credits received.]

[Zergling defeated, 10 Exp Gained, 25 Credits received.]

[Zergling defeated, 10 Exp Gained, 25 Credits received.]…

It was the longest two minutes of Karl's life. The thirty seconds he spent shooting and defending their location would forever be etched into his mind by the sheer terror and stress of facing the zerg swarm. Following that came the arrival of the hydralisks. Before they could shoot their spines, their brains blew up and kerrigan appeared behind the defensive barricade.

"How the hell did you get there?" Karl asked as he slapped in a new magazine.

"Thats for me to know and you not to find out." She laughed as she expertly dropped to one knee to shoot more comfortably. Shooting quickly to put down more hydralisks as they came into range. The group continued to shoot through the choke point and luckily managed to keep the zerg away, at least until the dead remains became too much for some zerglings to climb over.

"This is Taft, we're ready for take off."

"Understood! Fall back! One by one!"

The marines broke their formation and fallback slowly through the hangar one by one. Forming a retreating line, when one would fall back then the others would cover their back. They were almost to the main hangar area until sudden the deafening roar of an Ultralisk slammed through the walls like a tidal wave, making their tactics useless.

"Make a break for the ship!" A marine yelled in a panic state. Before Kerrigan could countermand him the others had made a break for it as well. Leaving her and Karl to behind.

"Shit, Kerrigan we heed to go." He said as he started to get ready to run.

"Okay any grenades left?"

"Just one."

"Toss it to me." She said as signaled him to made a break for it. Running back into the hangar, revealed all the marines loaded up on the ramp of the shuttle with the engines primed for take off. The woman with the grenade pulled out a few of her own and tossed them all at the entrance and caused a massive explosion.

"Get us the hell out of here!" she yelled as she kept an eye out for their surroundings. The ramps were slowly closing but at the same time another hole in the wall of the hangar appeared. This time with a swarm of hydralisks.

"Get back!" she yelled as they began attacking with their jagged spines. The closing ramp however suddenly stopped at the halfway mark.

"The ramp is jammed! We can't warp if the ramp is still open!" Taft yelled through the comm. At that moment they all felt their stomach drop a little.

"Cover me!" Kerrigan yelled as she jumped out the ship and ran towards the other side of the ship where the ramp controls were. While this was happening the marines had formed another firing line while using the raised ramp as cover. Looking at the controls, there was a spine stuck inside which was the reason for the ramp issues. Using her minor telekinesis, she ripped the panel off. Hot wiring some wires she managed to get a reaction from the ramp… by opening it further.

"Not that way!" a marine shouted.

Cursing, she undid the wire and tried a new combination of wires while ducking incoming spines, this time stopping the ramps descent. With their cover lowered a lucky spine made its way in and through the helmet of one of the marines, killing him in one shot. Some of the marines cursed as Kerrigan tried again, this time finally managing to have the ramp close.

"Thats it! Come on Kerrigan!" Karl yelled as he kept shooting.

As the ramp kept closing Kerrigan started moving inside and let go of the wires when suddenly she screamed out. The hydralisks had all turned their attention to her. Four spines found themselves stuck in her right leg, spread out from her thigh and calves.

"Boss!" one of the marines yelled as he tried to run out and get her, only to he bombarded with spines.

"Go! Get out of here!" She yelled as she tossed something through the ramp before it finally shut.

"And tell Jim I love him." She whispered into Karl's mind.

Before he could respond, the ship had blasted off into the air and with mutalisks and scourge right on its tail. However this was an experimental ship, Karl had no idea what it could do.

"Alright guys were about to use the experimental engine! So hold on!" the pilot yelled as they dodged the zerg flyers. With a sudden jolt the ship was suddenly in space, they'd done a warp jump right into space. Something that Karl remembered wasn't even implemented until starcraft 2. It seemed that now he knew where the idea originated from.

"Holy shit it worked!" The marine yelled was he overlooked themselves in orbit.

Karl saw out from one of the windows, that they were in orbit now around Tarsonis.

'Holy shit.' He though to himself. Looking down on the planet he could see the Zerg literally in a straight line heading towards the planet. While across the continent the zerg were slowly spreading out, like a plague of death and destruction.

"Oh man we escaped that…" another marine said.

Karl was about to comment when he noticed a small box on the ground that had been tossed into the ship before they took off. Opening it he saw a massive hard drive that looked like it was taken straight from an adjutants head.

"Taft get us out of here!"

"Got it!" the pilot said as the ships warp drive powered up before warping. It wasn't until the weird sensation of them traveling through the bright space did Karl get a welcome transparent blue screen.

[Quest: Escape Tarsonis! Complete!]

Mengsk has left you all to die, but you reached the Air Base with everyone and survived…mostly.

Rewards: 8000exp, 30,000 Credits. Faction Token.

Bonus rewards: for every surviving marine +1000 exp, 2000 credits.

If Kerrigan reaches base: +2,000 exp, 50,000 Credits

Then immediately after that, another screen came up.

 **[Trial Complete.]**

 **Completion Rank: C**

 **\+ 100,000 Credits**

 **New Title Gained: Survivor of Tarsonis**

 **Full Features Unlocked**

 **Contract System Unlocked**

 **Leadership System Unlocked**

 **Faction System Unlocked**

 **Multiverse Shop Unlocked**

 **FAQ; Unlocked**

 **Status Screen updated.**

'What the hell? I was in a tutorial?' Karl thought to himself as he made note of all the things he did not have access to beforehand. After reading everything the screen disappeared only tone replaced by a new one.

 **KARL PORTER**

 **Titles: Survivor of Tarsonis**

 **Lvl: 8 (5800/18001)**

 **Race Terran Class: Ghost**

 **STR : 5 CON:6**

 **CHA : 5 DEX: 9**

 **WIS : 5 INT : 11**

 **Unallocated Stat Points: 8**

 **Money: 196,000 Credits**

'Holy shit, 18000 experience and I'm only at level seven? There's gotta be another way to survive.' He thought to himself as he thought about the new universe he was in.

"Taft how long until Tyrador IX?" he asked.

"We're about six to seven hours away."

"Good. Everybody listen up! We need to talk…" He started

"About what?" a marine asked.

"About our future." He said.


	3. Chapter 3

HEY EVERYBODY!

Hi so sorry about not being able to post sooner, i was on vacation on the beaches of Cambodia... highly recommend you go if you ever get the chance.

Now on to the story, will be shooting for once a month releases and all the while writing my other stories. if you're interested try out my wordpress at eserngo. wordpress. com

Thanks for reading and see you guys next time!

Author Response:

SalinorTheDrake: The update is HERE!

Blaze1992: Sorry for lack of updates! wish i could type faster but have other things to do.

moops:Stats will have limits and this character isn't going to be max/min rpg stats like in fallout.

davycrockett100: Sorry about the stat switches, i fixed them.

Aka1Tara: Thanks! i wish myself luck with this too.

ErzBattle: Dude ghosts are awesome i mean come on, Tosh and Nova! as for the Gamer manhwa had a major impact on me, some is taken from the series but in all honesty gamers mind and gamers body isn't that amazing of a perk. but some interesting reads have taken that idea so far.

7: Thanks!

Mpopl2: yes uses LotV but only in facts and units. story will shift sent this takes place just before the brood wars. but honestly i don't remember so much about brood wars so it'll be his own adventure during this time until wings of liberty begins.

* * *

Karl was tired as hell and it had been a hell of a long day. From talking about Starcraft with a friend to being IN Starcraft killing zerg with a Hero and future enemy of humanity. Then to make things even more weird, doing all of this while theres a constant stream of blue transparent boxes telling you what you've killed and magical money appearing in your account. Speaking of Karl had no idea how he was going to get access to his money. It was written in his status but no matter what he tried, the money just wouldn't appear.

Right now, they was on their escape ride. The 'commandeered' experimental space ship, which Taft had named 'Glory'. An hour ago the other marines had decided to agree to see what was happening in the sector before making their next moves. But the consensus was that they agreed to stick together. With that out of the way the current plan was this, if the Confederacy was down and the Sons of Korhal won, then they'd look for Raynor. If the Confederacy was still operating, they'd try and find a way to survive to one day kill Mengsk. All of the marines were in agreement that the mastermind had left them for dead and just murdered about two billion people. That was just someone they' all agreed to never follow.

Seeing that he finally had free time now, he figured now was a good time to explore the new options that his game was giving him. The Glory, the massive stealth drop ship, similar to a Hercules class transport was big enough to hold about sixty marines in full armor, or about eight siege tanks if he remembered correctly. With the massive spaceship, if they'd managed to find work, cargo and transportation jobs wouldn't be too much on an issue. This wasn't like the typical setup for a drop ship since it had such a large capacity, in fact it seemed to be closer to an infiltration ship but he figured it was being developed for just that to do black op work.

Looking around, the marines were all resting in their suits and the soothing hum of the warp engines was all he could really hear. Now that he had a chance he started really looking up what exactly was now available to him since he'd finished the trials. Luckily there was a section called the **FAQs** , which had a few answers to his many questions.

 **[FAQ: You've completed your trials, now what?]**

[After finishing the trials, you are now free to do as you wish. However be warned, should you die you will be returned to your world and then sealed into silence.]

'Oh great, so not a serious death but leave me in a state of wanting more for the rest of my life…Thanks game.' He thought to himself sarcastically. Right, now he was enamored with the game that was his life now, it was a dream come true in so many ways. Even though he studied engineering in college, he was also knowledgeable in politics and how dark it could get. That combined with his love of strategy games, he figured he'd be able to survive and navigate his way through the Koprulu Sector.

 **[FAQ: What is the Multi-Gamerverse? ]**

[The Multi-Gamerverse; a series of game universes designed to test an individual. Should when you adequately survive, conquer, or control a universe without dying, you graduate and move onto a new one. The more universes you survive the better the benefits will be.]

'So this is going to take awhile. I wonder whats at the end of the road?' he pondered at the adventure that would be without a doubt waiting for him. The world of Starcraft was massive and the armadas and swarms numbered in the billions of individuals and wars that took the lives of hundreds of thousands.

 **[FAQ: What is the Contract system?]**

[This is a system where Jobs can be taken from the game or world, allowing you an easy way to keep track of on-going cotracts or make progress and earn some spending money, however there are drawbacks to this.]

'Clearly the game will give me opportunities to succeed, the downsides are interesting though.'

The system was in a way a set of rules that he was forced by a higher being? Or was it something else entirely? Either way system drawbacks were going to be much more different than if he found a job on his own. At least he figured it would be.

 **[FAQ: What is the Faction System?]**

[The Koprulu Sector is divided into many different factions. By joining or supporting certain factions, you will gain the boon or ire of certain groups. If you start your own faction your relations will he displayed for you.]

Pretty much going to be vital for him since he was planning on maybe starting his own mercenary company. Being able to manage or even garner more info on potential allies and enemies would give him a massive boon.

 **[FAQ: What is the Leadership System?]**

[Similar to the Faction system, instead this allows you to review information that you collect about the beings who follow and support your cause. Allows you to manage their training if they are under your command.]

'This is going to be sooooo useful!' he looked gobsmacked at the little blue screen. Being able to manage and get more info on the people he hired would be invaluable. He was excited to see what features the system would open up for him.

 **[FAQ: What is the Multiverse Shop?]**

[The Multiverse shop, A store that provides a wide variety of services and goods. Available for use after the trial is complete. The shop grants the user access to many different things and as such the system will have restrictions and instructions for you to follow to receive your goods or services. The Multiverse shop has everything imaginable and more. The costs reflect the power and ability it grants.]

'…O… M… G…', Karl thought as if he'd just found the golden jackpot.

'This shop will be what takes me forward. Before that though I need to see what I can do with this shop and its features. Seeing that the others were still happily asleep, he opened up the game shop.

 **[The Multiverse Shop]**

 **Welcome to the Multiverse shop, where everything has a price. Weapons, rare materials and precious metals all at your very finger tips.. If you have enough money then it is all possible. Depending on the technology and power of your purchase, prices will vary. Restrictions are placed as dependent on the world you are currently on.**

 **Remember… everything has a price.**

 **Current Rank: I (upgrade)**

 **Services | Goods**

Karl was surprised when he saw that even the store had even further restrictions. The services that were offered were pretty straightforward, Headhunting, Transportation, Technical, Legal and Health services were all provided. As for goods he found a massive list broken down from raw materials to space ships. However the goods were marked with certain ranks. The ranks didn't prevent him from buying them but it was absurdly expensive. A Rank II item was 2x as expensive, Rank III was 4x, and Rank IV was 8x, and so on and so forth. However the light at the end of the tunnel was that with each rank up, the cost multiplier was removed.

Right now he was at Rank I, which basically gave him common raw materials, pre-21st century tech and NO spaceships. It was literally worthless in this universe and to him, it made no sense for him to try and spend his credits on something that costs twice as much and as much as sixteen times as much for more advanced things. Sighing he pushed the upgrade button and found the cost, a thousand credits to upgrade to rank 2, which on the goods menu was everything on the pre-spacefaring earth. Accepting the costs he checked how much it cost to go to rank three. It was now ten thousand credits, leading him to believe it would always be a multiplier of ten. So he upped it once more to Rank III at a total of 11,000 credits. Leaving him with 185,000 credits.

It was here that he unlocked a technology option, and what a wonderful option it was. On the list Karl found tech schematics for designs on production of many things, processing raw resources, producing medicines, and assembly lines. Although he wasn't sure if it was as advanced as the current universes technological standards, it was enough for a fledgling production plan. Studying the available tech, Karl figured it was everything someone needed to get started on producing a slow but steady income. Only the major problems were the starting funds. The technology started at 100,000 credits for each schematic, blueprint, and formula. So it would take a long while before he could actually get it started.

With now a base dream of probably starting his own empire or maybe stealthily building up a secret organization. He was interested in ensuring his own survival and in this universe, having more guns and forces usually helped. Opening up his status board, he figured it was now a good time to update his stats for any upcoming plans.

 **KARL PORTER**

Titles: None

Lvl: 8 (5800/18001)

Race Terran Class: Ghost

STR : 5 CON:6

CHA : 5 DEX: 9

WIS : 5 INT : 11

Unallocated Stat Points: 8

Money: 185,000Credits

Faction: None

Looking over his stats, Karl wondered for a long time what he should do concerning his build as a ghost. Obviously he would not be able to able to become a heavy weapons user, since being a ghost was all about speed and agility. However there were no stats concerning speed or agility directly. Strength and dexterity were the closest thing to it but not exact. On the other hand it would be important for him to communicate and broker deals, recruit people, and make contacts.

KARL PORTER

Titles: None

Lvl: 8 (5800/18001)

Race Terran Class: Ghost

STR : 6 CON:7

CHA : 8 DEX: 9

WIS : 8 INT : 11

Unallocated Stat Points: 0

Money: 185,000Credits

Faction: None

"Karl, I need you in the cockpit." The pilot called through the intercom.

The voice of the pilot reminded him that it was time to get on with their plan, he huffed and walked up and met up with Taft. Through Taft was a decent pilot but even he admitted that he was not trained in the fullest capacity and was a better gun than flyer.

"Whats up Taft?"

"We're about an hour away from arrival, what's out cover story? And what are we going to do when we get there?" he asked.

Tyrador IX was a Luxury Resort planet, designed by to be for the wealthy Confederate families. A Paradise planet with only a trading station and a small garrison. It was a decent place to work and an even better place to one thing that was good though was that it naturally produced large quantities of food. As a paradise planet it was covered in high quality horticulture technology to feed the rich families and export for the local businesses.

"Simple, we tell the garrison that we're refugees coming from Tarsonis. We evacuated when our confederate command ordered us to, we're here to refuel before we head elsewhere."

Taft didn't say anything but he hummed in understanding.

"Then when we get into port we gather what info we can and then figure out what needs to be done." He simply stated.

Taft nodded, "You know for a Ghost your cover story sucks."

"Hey, sometimes simple is best. Besides," he paused as he thrust about what was happening when they escaped. "They're probably about to receive word about Tarsonis. They'll be in a state of shock and try to restructure the chain of command."

"True enough." Taft depressivly sighed in his armor.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence as the blue hue of warp speed passed them by. Karl took the time to delve more into the Multiverse Shop and try to find its limitations. Suffice it to say he did not succeed. Finally they dropped out of warp what awaited them was something completely unexpected. The moment they dropped out of warp they received a wide range communications broadcast.

"This is Station Praetor, the Confederacy chain of command has fallen, Zerg have landed on Tarsonis. This station is now under the rule of Governor Tiberius Grant. All incoming ships are required state intentions before trying to dock. Upon receiving this transmission you have thirty minutes to either dock or leave. All who try to land on the planet without proper identification or permission will be fired upon."

Karl frowned at the clear grab for power. With the new governor in power of the spaceport's security, getting into the station would be a wild card. Before he could think of a change of plan, the comms signaled an incoming transmission from the station.

"This is Station Praetor, Identify yourself."

"Is is Freighter Glory, we are refugees from Tarsonis seeking to refuel before making our way to our next destination."

"Understood…" the station then cut off.

Taft sighed as he leaned back, "Well lets hope that the station will let us through."

"Yeah maybe we can—"

Before Karl could respond, the comms lit up again.

"Freighter Glory, you are cleared for dock access for 20 hours. Proceed to docking bay 5. No weapons are permitted onto the station."

"Affirmative Station Praetor. Proceeding to Hangar 9, Docking Bay 5." Taft sighed in relief.

Karl let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and souped in his seat. That was it, they were in and he most likely had the funds to pay… soon as he figured how to access them. As Taft flew them into port he saw the numerous torrents that lined the wall. Clearly the station was built to withstand any incursion from invaders.

"Okay we land, I get us fuel and maybe a job and then we go from there."

"Copy that."

The docking went rather smoothly and he found himself in a little bit of awe before he reeled himself in. The station's docking port was full, up to the brim with mostly civilian vessels from what he could tell. However outside of that was the fleet of ships defending the planet. From what he read on the sensors there were forty ships of variating sizes all in orbit of the planet and station.

Getting off the ship, he disguised himself in some overalls that were left on the ship. His ghost helmet he'd left on the ship in order to not scream to the station 'Ghost on base'. The station for Karl was like seeing a scene from world war two where there were hundreds of people cramped together trying to get to escape. Luckily he and the guys weren't staying so he was expedited through the line and was granted a 20 hour pass. After that he was allowed into the market place.

The station was set up with a large market area for various approved shops sold their goods, there were other vendors as well but they were more akin to stalls than actual stores. Being that it was a luxury planet, it's main vendors were mostly rare exotic goods, high-end clothes and accessories, and luxury ships with the exception to the major banks. The stalls were setup out of the way and from the looks of it, more had been set up recently. A common thing that was being sold in abundance was passage to other planets and the other was weapon sales with a few ships that were being advertised as well.

Seeing all these stalls and vendors he was expecting to find fuel pretty easy, but the reality was that fuel was now being hoarded by the Governor. All the vendors explained that they would not allowed to sell fuel and were all ordered to procure as much fuel as possible. Considering it, Karl agreed with the decision with the Confederacy not be sending supplies anymore, . The only thing the station had was the luxury planet's good that no one was in the mood to afford and the perfect biosphere for growing tons of food that could support several colonies. Right now however there was no food for them to trade, so they had no leverage against encroachers onto the planet. After looking for fuel for six hours and running from stall to stall, he'd almost given up when something caught his attention. There was a giant digital message board with a huge post saying.

TRADING. FUEL FOR PASSAGE. MEET AT THE KAAMO CLUB. ASK FOR J."

Seeing the post would be perfect, he was immediately a little suspicious.

'Seriously? Right off the bat?' he thought to himself. For a moment he considered just ignoring the post and continue searching but in all honesty they didn't have the time. Instead, before he decided to ignore it he got a prompt from the Contract System.

 **[Trade Contract: Bring Passenger to their Destination]**

 **Party A: Will give 50 units of fuel to Party B**

 **Party B: Will take Party A to Destination**

 **Details: Go to Kaamo Club for more details**

Was it because the contract system recognized that he seriously considered it or was it because it was the only legitimate offer? Karl couldn't figure it out but seeing how the system had so far been completely impartial, he figured it was safe. Before he left though, he The Station had a map terminal that could be accessed near every lift on the station, using this it took him close to twenty minutes to find the club above near the entertainment deck.

From the outside it was clear that it wasn't as luxurious as some of the other establishments. With its sign flickering from poor maintenance it was, from what he could see, receiving an influx of patrons with the sudden arrivals. Heading in it looked better than the outside, with from what he could tell three floors of tables and a full time staff serving.

"Welcome to Kaamo Club, how can we serve you?" asked in a perfectly rehearsed tone by one of the waiters.

"I'm here to see someone named J about a trade." Karl answered politely. The waiter seemed to perk up immediately before letting out a string of words.

"Oh thank god, the bitch has been here for days wasting space. She's on the third floor, sulking and drowning himself in drink. Honestly I'm surprised that someone even showed up, that post has been up for days."

"Anything off about this girl?" Karl asked worked he'd be picking himself up some trouble.

"Nothing to worry about. Tell you what, the manager said that whoever take the man outta here gets a free drink." The waiter said with a smile as he walked off to another table of patrons.

Frowning at the very real possibility of having to make a deal with a drunk woman, he'd began climbing the stairs.

'Please don't let her be ugly.' He wished with crossed fingers. He may be a 'Ghost' but in actuality he was still 23 year college student inside. At the top of the third floor he saw his contact, J. From what he could tell J was about the same age as he was and pretty petite. However the giant mug of beer that was almost as big as her head was an indication of how badly drunk she probably was. The woman was a brunette from what he could tell since the rest of her body was hidden under the table.

Remembering that he had the observe ability, he focused on her until a screen came up.

 **Jessica Hayes Lvl: 4**

Titles: The Catastrophe

Race Terran Job: Star Engine Engineer

 **[Observe +1]**

'The Catastrophe? Why the hell is that her title?' Karl thought to himself as he reached the front of her table, "You J?"

"Who's askin?" The brunette asked back cautiously.

"Someone who's willing to get you to wherever you need to go for fuel." Karl baited.

"Really!?" the woman exclaimed as her head popped up like a squirrel.

"Yeah, now can I sit down and you give me the details?"

"Of course. Of course!" she said quickly as she stood up to shake his hand.

"You have no idea how happy I am to have someone else take up my offer."

"Someone else?" Karl questioned with raised eyebrows.

Hesitating at the question she was silent for a second before saying, "There is another guy who is willing to trade but… in all honesty the man is a creep. He reeks a foul smell with a breath even worse than that. I was going to wait until the end of the week before deciding but with what happened on Tarsonis, I'm eager to leave."

"I see… so where are you looking to go and how much fuel do you have to trade?"

For the next hour the two talked details about how much fuel was going to be brought over. In the end they decided to only get enough fuel to fill up the 'Glory' and the rest would be sold for Jess' new life. The woman in the entire negotiation had hidden her face behind her long black hair. Her hands were covered in gloves so Karl thought she was some sort of engineer. Also when they finished negotiations, the Contract System came up and gave him a final prompt.

 **[Trade Contract: Bring Jess to their Rapin IV]**

 **Jess: Will give enough units of fuel to the Glory for the trip**

 **Karl: Will take Jess to Rapin IV**

 **Accept / Decline**

Finally accepting the trade, they drank to their agreed deal. Finishing up their drink they were prepared to move out when suddenly a loud, burley, and smelly man stamped up to their table. Quickly using his observe on the man he got a simple screen.

 **Don Klein Lvl: 4**

Titles: The Deserter

Race Terran Class: Bandit

"J! What's going on? I thought we had a deal?!" the smelly man rudely yelled.

"No you thought we had a deal, I said I would think about it." Jess responded testily, probably from all the alcohol.

"You bitch!" The man yelled as he raised his hand, but before he could hit her, Karl had instinctually pulled his psionic energy from within him and used his telekinesis to hurl the man across the room.

 **[Telekinesis sub-skill unlocked: Telekinetic Push]**

 **[Telekinesis +3]**

On the other side of the room the man groaned as he was knocked out.

"I think we should go." Karl said as he stood up.

"Yeah… same…" Jess said as well as she looked at Karl funny as she got up weakly wary of Karl now. Together they left the club with various eyes on them.

Outside the club Karl told Jess what to do in order to get in contact with them including their hangar number and which docking bay they were at and to ask for Taft if he wasn't there. Agreeing to meet up in two hours or so, then went separate ways. Glad that the trade was going to go through, he messaged Taft and told him to prepare for Jess' arrival in case he wasn't there on time. Taft meanwhile told him to look for any jobs he could find for some extra credits or to find some extra supplies for the other marines. After such a extended fight he told Karl that the men were hungry and were getting a little antsy with only nutrition paste.

Traveling back through the market, he decided to use his observe on everything else before he went back to the ship to see if he could upgrade it some more. From stall to stall he was identifying various guns, ammo, and trade goods. Before he could buy anything however he was still in the dilemma on how to access his credits from the system which had once again annoyed him. Checking through his status he pressed the credits and was surprised when a it told him to check his inventory.

'Inventory?' he wondered.

With just a thought a blue screen appeared with various little boxes and some data on the side. Inside there were two boxes with things inside. The first was a piece of paper while the other was a small chip. Taking the paper he read through it, which was actually a list of rules for the inventory system. Which after reading boiled down to this.

-Items purchased from the Multiverse shop will appear in here, except for things that are too large, like starships and anything bigger than a gun.

-Only things bought from the store can be put in the inventory.

-The user may not use the inventory in combat situations.

'Interesting' , he grinned. Next was the small chip, which he pulled out and used observe on.

 **[Multiverse Credit Chip]**

 **-Is used for purchasing goods from the inhabitants of the Koprulu sector. If lost, costs 10,000 credits to replace.**

"Finally!" he groaned as he figured it out finally. Taking the credit chip he went out in search of food and ammo for the marines on the Glory. Going from various stalls he ended up spending about three thousand credits for a full resupply of ammo, rations, and fresh food. It was on the way back that he ran into a small vendor who was ignored by everyone else. The stall was small not even a meter wide but it was what caught his eye through a random observation.

 **Barracks+1 Blueprint**

 **SCV+1 Blueprint**

 **Command Center+1 Blueprint**

It was the basic blueprints for a base! Immediately walking over he saw a old man tending to the stall.

"Hello there! Welcome! See anything you like?" the old man asked jovially.

"Hi there, just came by to see what it is you're selling."

"Ah young man you're in for a treat! I sell a little everything really, but really my specialty is in technology. You see, I am a bit of an jack of all trades. Efficiency is my thing, so selling massive amounts of cargo while always good… it isn't the best value for a small ship like mines. So, I sell more valuable but smaller things, like for instance blueprints, software, and data keys. What would you be interested in?" the mans grinned as he observed Karl's interest.

The goods offered were very interesting, enough so that Karl could almost feel his credits disappear already.

"What do you recommend?"

"Ah interested I see!" the man shouted as he rubbed his hands together. Walking back behind his stall he pulled out a suitcase which inside held a computer.

"I currently have several designs available for purchase. First is a stationary barracks, an older design that is not able to take off after its been built but I think it suits those with a stable home base. Comes full with assembly and disassembly bays. Plus room designs for sleeping soldiers and technicians. " He said as he pulled it up for Karl to take a look.

"Next is a advanced command center where there no longer needs to be an attachment apart of the center itself. Instead there are modifications that can be made into the the command center itself, even making itself a fortress in and of itself." The man explained with excitement.

Karl recognized this as the command center that would be improved in starcraft 2.

"Next are a set. One marine exo-armor suit. One Standard SCV blueprint, nothing really to change on that, and finally fusion power core blueprints for the exotic suits."

"And lastly is a Advanced Adjutant blueprint! Enhanced performanc, better data storage capacity, capable of running better cyber warfare systems, and finally able to pilot automated flyers. A work of gold this one." The man smiled as he started drawing a crowd.

Karl, while impressed was concerned about the cost. He really wanted an advanced command center but was afraid it would be too much for him since he had a little more than a hundred eighty thousand credits.

"How much is the Command Center?"

"250,000 credits!" the man said jovially as Karl's face fell.

"What about the barracks? Or the Suits?"

"Each 75,000 credits."

"I see, thank but its a little too rich for my blood." He said as he turned away.

The jovial face remained the same but the smile fell, "What exactly were you eyeing… maybe we can work out a deal."

Turning back, "I'd like the barracks or maybe the command center but I think its a bit too much for me."

"Ah well how about this?" the man said as he typed into his briefcase computer. A moment later he sound it back together, for Karl to see.

"What exactly am I looking at?"

"This! This is a Command Barracks. Fell out of style ages ago but still a very solid design. About 35% larger than your average barracks, but about 25% smaller than a full fledged command center. No Modular ability or attachment ability like today's models but had the benefit of built in turret defenses." The man sold him.

"Does it have unloading bays and loading bays for marine exo-armor?" Karl asked as he looked over the list of features the Command Barracks was able to do.

"Sonny, marine armor hasn't changed in over a hundred and fifty years. It works fine with marine armor, loading and unloading."

"Then if the price is right then you've got yourself a deal." Karl said plainly not expecting it to be cheap at all.

"Its your's for 105,000 credits."

"I can do 85,000." Karl replied as the old jovial man laughed.

"Are you really bargaining me?" he asked.

"Well considering you said it was an old design, isn't modular, and if I'm right… you have copies of this blueprint and haven't sold any n years. Like you said it fell out of style." Karl said as he folded his arms and stared back.

"Hahaha no way buddy, you make a good point but with this blueprint you get both the functions of a command center and a barracks. On top of that it has multiple turrets so it can defend itself. No other building being made today can do that!" the old man countered.

"Fine I can do 90,000."

"Make it 100,000 and you have yourself a deal." The old man haggled.

Groaning that he wouldn't get a better deal on it, Karl finally agreed, passing his credit chip and accepting the blueprints which were in a data storage chip.

"Pleasure doing business with you!" the stingy old man laughed as he ran Karl's credit chip through and transferred the hundred thousand credits.

"Yeah, but give me your comm info so when I have more credits I can call you." Karl told him.

"Don't worry, Sonny. There's a file on the blueprints"

"In that case thanks for your time." Karl said as he walked off heading for the ship.

With the blueprints on hand he made his way back to the ships with his purchase. Plans now running through his mind on how he would be able to use the Command Barracks to his advantage.

"Porter!" his comm came to.

"Yeah, Taft?"

"Did you buy ammo, rations, and warm food?" the marine asked with a small excitement in his voice.

"Yeah why?"

"Nothing, nothing, just get back soon before we leave you with nothing." He quickly said before he hung up.

Left puzzled by the sudden call and being hung up on, Karl was about to just ignore it until he saw another blue screen prompt.

 **[Loyalty increased - see Leadership System for more details]**

"What in the fu.. huh?" he let out as he stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Hey movie t asshole!" a voice came from behind him, as a group of people pushed past him in the busy market way.

"Sorry, just realized I forgot something." He quickly said as the people walked away.

Rereading the notification which told him to check the leadership system he did just that.

 **[Leadership system ]**

 **Followers - 9 Marines**

 **Unnamed group**

 **Average loyalty 10.89 / 100 - 11.89**

"What the hell? Who the hell am I leading?" he thought to himself as he read the leadership screen. Touching the Average Loyalty numbers it broke down who his followers were.

 **Name - Class - Loyalty**

 **Andrew Taft - Marine - 15/100 - 16/100**

 **Mathew Attewell - Marine - 12/100 - 13/100**

 **Jack Hammond - Marine - 11/100 - 12/100**

 **Chase Sinatra - Marine - 10/100 - 11/100**

 **Ruben Garratt - Marine - 10/100 - 11/100**

 **Franklin Buchan - Marine - 10/100 - 11/100**

 **Donnell Sawhney - Marine - 10/100 - 11/100**

 **Rickie Pritchard - Marine - 10/100 - 11/100**

 **Donovan Dowell - Marine - 10/100 - 11/100**

"Well I guess feeding hungry men is a good way to make friends." He thought to himself as he shook his head and went back to the ship. Traversing through the station he looked for any jobs to Rapin IV. Most were too big of a job for him and the small crew they had and too high of a risk with no guns on the ship. Deciding not to bite off more than he could chew, he went back to the ship.

"Back off ass-hole or I'll put a few rounds through your visor!"

In front of the Glory were a group of men facing off the marines from his dropship.

"Hmm so Don woke up apparently." He said as he frowned at the situation unfolding before him.

* * *

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

"Listen here you fucking halfwit! She's staying here with us and if you come any closer then I'll put a hole between those stupid rocks you call eyes!"

"Just fucking try it!" Don the bandit shouted as his boys locked their guns onto Taft.

'This is just annoying now.' Karl thought to himself as he silently moved behind the group. Taking a glance there were about twenty men, all un armored but with decent guns. His squad however would wipe the floor with them, even with half the numbers, and that was thanks to the armor they were wearing. The hangar was silent as people watched from a distance and the station security was now alert for any issues that might unfurl. Karl pulled his combat knife out and was about to slip in between them when.

"Now, now… no need to get so testy."

Heads turned as everyone took a look at the new player. Dressed in a CMC Armor, the man said as he walked up and between the two parties. Flanked on each side was a group of thirty marines, all with their weapons ready for action. Praetor Station Security had finally arrived and it was a good thing since tensions were high. Now in the center of a three way of guns, Don was not feeling so confident anymore.

"Now. Someone explain to me why you guys are here causing all this ruckus." The man in the armor asked.

Out of the corner of their eyes, Karl and Taft locked eyes for a moment. Karl shook his head so that Taft knew not to say anything. Don, in his idiocy began yelling, "These sons of bitches are stealing my fuel! Me and the lady had a fucking deal and now she's takin off with our fuel."

Listening to Don, the man took an interest when the topic of fuel was being brought up.

"Did you buy this fuel from her?" he asked calmly.

"No, we said-"

"Then shut up… on this station you do not force someone to give you something like a spoiled child. If you do not understand that then me and my men will be happy to deal with you." He said coldly. With the station security on the same side as Taft and Jessica, not to mention that Karl could possibly show up at any minute.

Clicking his teeth, he stared at Taft, "Tell that other asshole this ain't over."

As he said this he turned his group around and led them away. The Station security manager on the other hand watched them leave with a hint of annoyance. When they were finally gone, he spoke up.

"Now then, you lot, where is the leader of this little group?"

"Right here." Karl said as he walked up from behind, while the station marines turned to him, cautious.

"And you would be?"

"Karl Porter."

"And what would you and your…", looking at Taft "associates be doing?"

"My group and I will be leaving, taking our client to her final destination."

The manager observed Karl for a moment, as if trying to understand him.

"I see… in that case do hurry up, there are many other ships waiting to dock and if you can finish up then hurry along your way."

Karl smiled, "Of course, we'll get out of your way as soon as we can."

With that the station security left and the marines on the Glory finally relaxed.

"Good work Taft." Karl said as he walked up the ramp of the Glory.

"No biggie, after Tarsonis those guys were chumps." He said, breaking up the tension with some laughter.

As they finished loading up the last of the fuel, the client Jessica pulled him over to the side.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Karl asked her.

She looked around nervously, as she asked the ghost, "Uhh before we go, do you think you have any extra space on the ship?"

"For what?"

"There's someone I forgot to mention… a friend of mine who needs to get off the station." She said nervously.

"Sure but it'll cost you extra., we have enough space for an extra passenger."

She let out a breath she'd been holding in.

"Thank you. He's a few minutes away from here." She said as she pulled out a small silver comm. She quickly called their next passenger. After a moment she asked Karl.

"How much for his seat?"

Karl wasn't expecting this question so he said a random number.

"20,000."

She seemed shocked but quickly told said it into the other end. A moment later she hung up, and nodded to the price. Smiling at the easy money, he went back to the ship. A few minutes later, the crew finished loading of ammo, rations, and other supplies he picked up onto the ship. All that was left was for the it last passenger. Standing outside waiting, Karl noticed a man in his later years, wearing a white lab coat carrying a large briefcase approaching them franticly.

"Is she here?"

"Who?"

"Jessica, of course! Is she here?" the man nearly shouted.

Before Karl could even respond though a small blur ran past him and hugged the man.

"Dad! You came!" she sobbed.

"Of course I did, now we must quickly be on our way." He said as the two of them quickly boarded the Glory. Curious, Karl used a quick observe on the old man.

Tamison Hayes Lvl ?

Title: Mind of the Confederacy

Race: Terran Job: Researcher

[Observe +1]

'Who the hell?' he thought to himself. Deciding it was better to take them in than start a scene at the dock.

"Alright guys, shutting the loading bay doors. Taft tell the station to clear us for takeoff."

"You got it."

As the doors shut, he walked past the others. The marines sat on one side of the ship, happy at the prospect of a fully loaded weapon again. While on the other side their passengers were sitting there talking in hushed whispers. Not wanting to get into it yet, he went straight to the bridge and plopped himself down on the co-pilots seat.

"We good?" he asked

"Yeah, just got clearance to leave. Working not the calculations to jump to Rapin IV, looks like it'll take us about 4 days on and off with warp." Taft told him.

Nodding at the pilot, he understood why. The engines for the craft was small so the fuel in the tanks were not as large.

"Okay get us out of here, I have a feeling something will happen."

"You sure? I mean were already out the dock."

"Yeah, hurry it up." Karl said as he thoughts were running through his mind.

The man who came aboard the ship was a researcher, a very high level researcher who was frantically trying to get off the station as soon as possible. The daughter was a ship engineer, father was engineer, most likely they were confederacy R&D and are trying to escape before the new management comes in. Sighing, he wished he asked more for this job. Praying that nothing would happen he closed his eyes hoping to sleep before anything happened.

Right as they were about to enter warp there was a call from the station.

"Don't pick it up, just jump." Karl said as he caught Taft's hand from picking up the call.

"Alright." He said as he moved his hand and engaged the warp drive.

As the beeping of the call disengaged, the familiar white lights of warp filled their screen. Slowly the screen protectors came down, leaving them in their artificial light. Before the ghost could get up, Taft stopped him.

"Karl we need to talk." He said with a serious look in his eyes.

"Alright, whats up?"

"While you went on the station I was talking with the others about what we wanted to do. A lot of words were said but to cut it short, we'll follow you. Kerrigan was a great leader but she's gone now, you were her second in command and we trust you. Plus it doesn't hurt that you actually have a personality unlike some other ghosts we've met." He chuckled.

"However, that doesn't mean we'll be your henchmen, Mengsk treated us like that and they guys don't want any part of that anymore. So what do you say?"

Karl laughed, "I'll do my best. Thanks Taft, you know that makes you second-in-command right?"

Taft smirked and stuck out his hand, "Will that include 'second-in-command' pay?"

"Most likely." He said as he went to the back.

Back in the cargo area, the marines were relaxing but Karl could see some frustration on their faces being stuck in their armors. The Hayes on the other hand had a look of relief. Standing in the center of the cargo bay, he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Alright so here's the plan! We are on our way to Rapin IV, where our clients have asked for them to be dropped off. After which we'll look to find a way to make ourselves useful, save up some cash and then see what we can do to take care of ourselves. Not quite sure what that is right now but I will say that I will make sure we get warm food, and you guys out that armor for that R&R. Mr Hayes, Miss Hayes, I need to speak to you."

The rest of the marines felt a little better after hearing Karl, which showed when his leadership system added another two points to his loyalty numbers.

Making eye contact with the two Hayes, he led them to the back of the _Glory._

"Mr Hayes, before we start I would first like to get the payment for your passage. Simply business out of the way first." Karl stated simply.

"Ah yes, I apologize I was simply happy to see my daughter." He told him as he fished out a small tablet and a credit chip from his top pocket and held a hand out.

"May I see your chip?" He asked Karl.

Handing his chip over, the older Hayes just connected the two chips together, pressed a few buttons on his tablet before handing it back to Karl.

[20,000 Credits acquired]

"Thank you very much, now thats out of the way. I would like to introduce myself, my name is Karl Porter. "

"Tamison Hayes." the man answered warily.

Putting on his nicest smile, "Mr Hayes, I was wondering if you have any work for us?"

Tannison stiffened up momentarily, "Why would you think that?"

"Well the fact your wearing a lab coat, came in here with a large briefcase, which I suspect is most likely classified confederacy research or intelligence. You were frantically trying to get out of sight, meaning you were trying to get off that station cause someone is going to come looking for you. How am I doing?"

Tannison's face became stoked with fury, "Now look here! If this is an attempt to extort me-"

"Relax old man, I was only going to offer to protect you. If you didn't want our services then when we arrive at Rapin IV I hope we part ways amicably." Karl said calmly.

The two Hayes looked at each other before, "Let us think about it." Jessica told him.

"Thats fine, but I hope you know, if shots are fired before you hire us, the price will triple." He said as we walked off, leaving the father and daughter to talk.

Heading back to the front of the ship, Karl was about to head into the cockpit when he felt a big mech hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Porter, mind of we talk for a bit?" the marine asked.

"Sure Donovan, Whats up?" He said as he sat down in one of the many seats.

"Well, I was wondering what you were planning."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't act like you don't know what I mean. What are you going to do with us? Are we mercenaries? Soldiers? Rebels? Are we going to keep fighting or are we going to finally get a break?" he asked with a sigh.

Karl sat there puzzled, it was for the first time he realized that while he was trapped in a game. For everyone else they were in a struggle for dear life. In a way it was really different for him, it reminded him that even though it was a game for him, he could remember to stay as he truly was. A good person, who just wanted to help people however he could.

"To be honest with you Donovan, I'd like nothing more than to stop fighting." He said surprising the eight foot marine.

"But something doesn't sit right with me, Mengsk sacrificed an entire planet to get power, sacrificed us. What to you think Raynor's gonna do? What do you think Mengsk will do to this sector and everyone living in it. The confederacy was corrupt yeah, but I think we've made a mistake." Karl said as he locked eyes with Donovan.

"I think we replaced a lazy, corrupt, and flawed government, with a smart, power-hungry, cruel bastard and I don't think what ever peace we earn will ever be enough with him. Pretty sure he'll go to war against the Protoss soon enough." Karl said dejectedly.

"How do you sound so sure?" Donovan asked warily.

"Because what kind of man uses the zerg to slaughter billions people?" he asked.

The two shared a silence, as Donovan absorbed the words.

"So whats your plan?" Donovan asked him.

"Short answer, save as many people as I can. Maybe establish an actual government that cares about its people?"

Donovan just laughed, "So nothing major right?"

"Haha, yeah you know dream big or go home." Karl laughed.

[ +5 Loyalty for Donovan Dowell ]

"Yeah, thanks for clearing that up." The big marine said as he nodded to Karl.

"No problem, thanks for asking." Karl said as they went their separate ways. Leaving the rest of the marines to only ask Donovan about the conversation.

The rest of the trip to Rapin IV was uneventful, except for when the Hayes agreed to Karl and the other marines at the rate of 1000 credits a day once they arrived at Rapin IV for a week. Assuming there weren't any problems after that, then they would be free to leave of seek other employment. The marines were happy to accept and earn some credits.

* * *

During the 4 days, Karl on the other hand was sifting through the shop. Taking a tally of all the info and tech he wanted to take in. Currently he found four things he was interested in, first was a mining blueprint, which would help him mine asteroids or moons and was completely self automated. Problem was that it only extracted ores, used a crap ton of energy, and had a small storage supply. Luckily from what info he could gather from the Hayes, Rapin IV had two moons and would most likely be untapped for him.

The next one was a factory unlike the traditional terran factory. This one was stuck in place, and was designed to make food, munitions, or commercial goods. Karl planned to use this to make products to export and rake in some cash. Downside of this was that it was dependent on energy and wouldn't be mobile at all, requiring constant defending. Although not an issue, Karl was sure that more advanced factories would be able to overcome some of these disadvantages.

The third one he was sure he'd get, but since it was more expensive than the other two, it would be a little later before he could use the blueprint, but a technology like that would be worth it. The technology he was looking at was a small fusion reactor for domestic use. Although not as powerful as the military class ones used for Battlecruisers, it would be more than enough to power the buildings he was planning on building. Until then though the buildings would use the generators that came with them.

Lastly was a blueprint for a lab, although it was not really necessary right now, he would hope that one day he could find some one who'd be willing to work for him and have his own Stettman. It was more 'it'd be nice to have' for the future. With a lab maybe some people would be able to modify or discover new ways to improve the technology. It would be awhile before he would be able to do that though. All in all most of the things he wanted to do would have to wait until he could get everyone settled down.

Finally after four monotonous days inside the transport they finally arrived to their destination. Rapin IV was finally in their sights. From initial scans Taft had told him that the planet was a good garden planet. Relatively untapped, the population on there was less then three thousand. With the info provided by the Hayes, the colony was clearly in the early stages of colonization. However with the recent fall of the Confederacy, Karl was sure that they would soon run out of materials and support needed to sustain itself. The colonization was a private one, with support from one of the corporations on Tarsonis. Word would have spread to the colony already.

As they neared the planet, Taft at the helm received a comm.

"Unidentified ship this is Control Tower , please state the nature of your purpose here."

"Rapin IV, this is the _Glory_ , we're here with passengers who have chartered transport to your colony."

"Understood, what are the names of your passengers?"

"Jessica and Tannison Hayes."

The comm was silent for a moment before they got another message, "Affirmative Glory, please head to landing pad three. Sending you coordinates now."

"Affirmative, control tower."

As they made their way to the landing pad, Karl could see that the father and daughter duo were anxious to get off the ship. Hell, even he was anxious to get off the ship. After a tentative twenty minutes they finally landed.

"Tamison, Jessica, let us get off the ship first and secure the landing zone before you get off. I may not know your situation but know that there is a risk out there for you so let us do our jobs." Karl said as he moved the marines into position.

"Karl, thank you but I don't think we'll be harmed here."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Simple, because my wife is in charge of this colony." Tannison said as he laughed.

Sighing, Karl massaged the bridge of his nose. "Then why'd you agree to hire us for the week?"

The older mans face turned serious, "Because my wife is only the leader for the administrative side, the colonies defenses are run by another individual. Luckily, his forces are limited at best so I'm not too worried, but it would be a good deterrent if you're seen as a guard."

Sighing, Karl just said, "I really should have asked you all of this before we got here."

"Don't worry Karl, I'm sure we'll be fine." Jessica said, causing Karl to groan.

"Why do people insist on jinxing themselves. Everyone load up! Extra mags, defensive formation soon as we head out!" he yelled, confusing everyone.

"Why?" Donovan asked.

"Cause someone asked a question tempting fate and I'm prettier sure we're fates little bitch right now so grab some extra ammo! If I'm wrong then its no harm done, if I'm right then you'll all thank me." He said as he changed into his armor. The others just shrugged and did as he asked, while he grabbed his C-10 canister rifle, some grenades, and a trip laser.

"Taft you're going to go out and act like you're the leader, I'm going to cloak and act as a backup."

"Roger, roger. You got it." The man said as he grabbed some grenades.

As they all got ready, Taft hit the landing bay doors. With a loud horn the massive bay doors opened up to reveal their welcoming party. Meanwhile the moment the doors opened, Karl was already out on his way out. Karl slipped out and around to where the welcoming party was waiting for them. Standing there, were four marines and a man in an officers uniform.

'Somethings not quite right, wouldn't Tamison's wife want to be the first one to see her family?' Karl realized. Stretching his senses, he knew something was wrong. With his Psionic Detection he felt the minds of six strong minds, disciplined and ready behind each of the access doors to the landing pad. Most likely marines preparing for an ambush if needed, but he wasn't sure. By now the doors of the Glory were down and Taft was leading marines down the ramp now.

Karl's mind ran into overdrive trying to figure out how to deal with the ambush his senses were screaming with. Heading to one of the doors, Karl quickly paired a set of grenades together with a trip wire if anyone rushed out the door. As Taft and the marines led the Hayes' forward, Karl could see a look of confusion on Tamison's face.

"Kramer… wheres Angelina?" he asked as he got closer.

"Hello Tamison, Angelina had an unfortunate accident " The man dressed in an officers uniform grinned.

"What did you do?!" Tamison yelled.

"Oh what do you mean? Angelina simply fell down and hit her head. Seems she'd been working too hard lately and fell quite exhausted. Being how she's currently indisposed, I have taken charge of this facility. And seeing how Tarsonis has fallen. We are now an independent colony and I'm in charge." Kramer sneered.

"You bastard! She told me you never could handle the fact you were passed over for promotion, you conniving son of a bitch!" Tamison raged.

As he was yelling the four marines raised their guns and stepped forward to cover their commanding Officer, causing Taft and the marines of the glory to do the same.

"You're out gunned!" Taft yelled towards the officer. Kramer however just smirked.

"You think I didn't prepare for this eventuality? Don't take me for a fool!" He yelled as he pulled out his comm, only to feel his body stiffen up. From behind him he could feel a firm grip oh wrist, and a very sharp blade on his neck. De-cloaking, Karl appeared holding the man in place. Using his Psionic power to hold the other marines in place.

In a strong voice Karl spoke in a voice that carried to every man in the vicinity, "Did you know that just slicing the throat is not enough to kill a man? …It leaves a small chance of survival if done amateurishly or in a hurry. If you really want to kill a man you have to slice the jugular vein in particular." He said to the man. The Officer was not happy but could not find a way to struggle away from the blade. With a small nick to the neck, Karl had the mans full attention.

"When you slice open the jugular vein, all the blood comes rushing out… and most people begin to panic and in then their heart rate begins to skyrocket and then…they bleed out cold, and usually alone. Most people last about a twenty seconds, but seeing a big guy like yourself, you might last twenty-five." He whispered so that only the two of them could hear. Kramer, realizing the situation he was in started whimpering.

"W-w-what do you want?" he pleadingly asked.

Karl stayed silent for dramatic effect before saying, "Where is Miss Angelina currently located?"

"S-s-she's in the infirmary…" the man answered..

"Ah and how did she get there?"

"It was an accident! I swear, she hit her head… and fell into a coma." He quickly said.

Tamison meanwhile heard this and his eyes lit with a burning fire. Karl however, felt something was off.

"And when exactly was this?" he asked, pushing the blade ever so slightly deeper.

Wincing, "Yesterday.."

"So you caused an 'accident', and all of a sudden you're in charge? Sounds awfully convenient if you ask me, wonder what would happen if I cut a little deeper… would that solve our issue?"

"W-w-wait!" he stuttered.

"Yes?"

"She's in a medically induced coma! Theres a nurse who's been keeping her induced for me!" he confessed, shocking even the marines under his own command.

"You boys in in this?" Taft asked the four marines who were still stuck in place.

The marines one by one lifted their visors, "No, we ain't know nothin' bout this!"

One by one the other marines said the same thing, even going to far as to broadcast it onto the rest of the squad who were waiting just beyond the doors.

"Tell them not to come out, I rigged grenades next to the doors." Karl said just as he twisted Kramer's arm behind his back and slipped the knife back into place at his jugular. With everyone now all seemingly pissed off, Kramer knew his days were limited. The rest of the day panned out very differently from what he imagined. Instead of securing his control of the colony, he was swiftly ousted, imprisoned, and pissed himself. Getting through to the colony was a bit of a task, but with their own marines explaining what happened, Karl and his crew made their way to the medical facility mostly unhindered.

Afterwards Angelina quickly woke up from her nap. The nurse who'd been following Kramer's orders was locked up next to him in the brig. The drugs used to keep her in the coma she was put in were swiftly countered and she woke up dazed and confused. It took a while and a lot of convincing that it wasn't all a dream. Immediately after Kramer was tossed into the brig, she with a quick and efficient manner had the rest of the management staff back in the know. Meanwhile a lot of the marines thanked him for getting rid of Kramer, apparently he'd stepped on a lot of toes.

* * *

Four days later

Rapin IV Colony - 14:00 hours

"Thanks for coming to see me Karl." Angelina Hayes said from behind her desk.

"Thank you for seeing me, I know you're busy with all the day-to-day of managing a colony and all that." Karl thanked as he sat down in front of her.

"No, its the least I can do with all that you've done for me and my family." She told him gratefully. Over the last few days, he'd acted as a pseudo-commanding officer. Although for a majority of the time he was just ensuring that the people of the colony didn't just lose a sense of security. All he did was organize patrols, manage some marines who had some questions, and help pass any security concerns to Angelina.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?" She asked.

"Well… it's about the colony. My guys are about ready to leave, we've done our part as contracted." Karl began.

"Wait! You're leaving? But you and your marines are practically the colonies security command! Why would you want to leave?" She asked shocked.

"And we appreciate it, truly. But we have other aims. Peace is a great thing so long as you have someone who is willing to agree to it. Unfortunately, I don't think peace is in the schedule." Karl said with a hint of sadness.

Quiet at the news, Angelina simply nodded. A part of her agreed that with the fall of Tarsonis, conflict would be in season. Especially with the reports she'd received about a so called Dominion appearing now. Karl and his crew leaving presented another problem as well, there weren't any officers she could promote to take over the duties he'd taken over. Even if she could get him to stay, she would need to pay him with funds that she quite frankly didn't have.

"I'm sad to hear you say that. Personally I wish you could stay. With the five hundred security units here, not many are in a good position to take over."

"I know, which is why I might have an alternative solution for you." Karl said as he pulled out a data pad.

"Ohh? Whats this?"

"An idea, I want to establish a small base. On the outskirts of the colony for personal reasons." He said with a smile.

"And what would that have to do with us?" She asked as she skimmed the document.

"In return me and my guys will train and manage the colony's security for a few weeks. What we need are supplies to get up and going, a couple trained SCVs and materials to get started." Karl explained.

Looking over the list, Angelina raised an eyebrow, "You know… this is a lot of materials. The idea of you guys around us is fine but… I don't think I can consciously trade away that many resources with our own mining isn't even up to snuff yet. Then the SCVs, we don't have too many trained SCV operators since most of the people here are either using mining bots or farming rigs. Suffice to say we need them. I'm sor-"

Before she could finish her sentence however she was cut off with the blaring red lights and klaxons blazing. The colony was under attack.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the delays. Life has gotten to me lately and its been hard to find time to write. Getting back into the flow of things now. on the story i've been really having difficulty with the skills and stuff, so for the most part all of his skills will be geared to combat or situational skills, like his Psionic Detection. Keep in mind, the Gamer's body gives him the skills, and training of a ghost. but he is still not used to his psionic abilities.

Thanks for reading!


End file.
